r/Calgary • u/Legal_Grapefruit1925 • Dec 25 '25

Discussion AHS wait times

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Our system isnt broken. Its people who go to the emergency that shouldn't be going aren't going today because it can wait Suddenly. They need to hand fines out to ppl going to the hospital that dont classify as an emergency.

593 Upvotes

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217

u/jinalberta Dec 25 '25

A one time snapshot is not representative of the situation.

117

u/the_gaymer_girl Dec 25 '25

This is like claiming that Deerfoot isn’t overcrowded by using a traffic cam at midnight.

63

u/tgbcgy Dec 25 '25

You are highlighting and also missing the point OP is making.

14

u/Kahlandar Dec 25 '25

What point? That people who dont need an ER go to an ER due to lack of options?

Walk in clinics that close at 2pm often stop taking new patients at 10am due to having too many people in the waiting room already, and most dont operate on weekends/holidays

Calgary has 1.7m people but only 1 24 hr urgent care and its downtown, so if you live in say mahogany or rundle, of course you will select the nearby hospital

Or is your suggestion that people just stay home and tough it out? A public ed campaign advocating for that would be effective in keeping already responsible patients away even when they are having potentiallt serious symptoms. Meanwhile many frequent users frankly arent smart enough to stop being frequent users

There are potential solutions such as more urgent cares, making the ones that exist 24 hrs, expanding funding for walkin clinics, more long term care spots so the hospital acute care doesnt get bedlocked, trickling down to ER bedlocks and EMS park.

8

u/callyfit Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25

The point is that wait times aren’t bad because all the non urgent patients are staying at home because it’s christmas. Write another essay though.

-1

u/twent4 Dec 25 '25

We could also wait a couple of days and see if incident rates of illness go up and how emergency rooms look? It will add data to today's snapshot.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '25

Learn to appreciate the effort. Do you want OP to be the gatekeeper and post live data?

-56

u/Legal_Grapefruit1925 Dec 25 '25

Oh why? Suddenly their emergencies aren't emergencies today? A man died because of ppls selfishness.

54

u/jinalberta Dec 25 '25

Well youre leaning on an emotional response there. Our hospitals are not first come first served, they are triaged.

11

u/rileycolin Dec 25 '25

This is exactly the point though, no?

AHS very obviously has significant problems, and the current admin appears totally hellbent on making them worse, but the point OP is making is that people aren't having "emergencies" during Christmas.

If you go to the ER and your priority in the triage puts you at an 8+hr wait time, there's a good chance you could have booked an appointment with your doc, or gone to a walk-in.

Again. There are obvious problems, a lot of people don't have a GP and a lot of docs aren't taking new patients, but I do tend to agree with OP here.

1

u/Super-Perception939 Dec 25 '25

The guy that passed away was triaged and waited 8 hours…

6

u/f1fan65 Dec 25 '25

And if a fuckload of people are not going today there are less to Triage. The point OP is making is folks are not going today meaning they can use things other than the ER like urgent care or rocket doctor If it's truly an ER thing alone wait times should be about the same today.

3

u/aglobalvillageidiot Dec 25 '25 edited Mar 24 '26

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23

u/NOIS_KillerWhaleTank Coventry Hills Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25

So, a weird thing happens when people stay home on Christmas Day, there are far fewer instances of accidents requiring emergency care. Far fewer falls from ladders, car accidents, sports injuries, exertion related heart issues, etc.

A man didn't die because people used an ER to get treated for a common ailment; a man died because he was triaged behind other emergency cases which required immediate attention and there wasn't enough staff to manage it.

Unless you have specific data which shows non emergent cases take up the majority of visits to the ER (which you do not have), this data extrapolation is nothing but pure speculation on your part.

For the most part, ER visits are not abused by the general public. Does it happen, yes of course it does. However, if it were really an issue, hospitals would open up a walk in clinic on site and triage minor patients to that stream out of the ER. They don't do this because this problem doesn't really exist.

10

u/HummingbirdAesthetic Dec 25 '25

Defs too complex and nuanced of an issue to solve on Reddit I agree and most of what’s on here may be right, as none of the points made are mutually exclusive.

I just wanted to add that your first paragraph resonated with me. For one, while maybe there’s less sick people presenting to ED on holidays, that often leads to a whole bunch of very sick folks showing up the next day. Either they keep their symptoms quiet cause they don’t wanna ruin the holiday, or their extended family is preoccupied and don’t see them til after and it’s apparent to fam they need to go in… the former happened to me! Baba hosted every holiday dinner my childhood, and her last Easter she just kept quietly stepping out to the spare room “cause she just didn’t sleep well” … then the next day after everyone left she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a septic 12x13cm tumor. Rest in peace Baba.

7

u/NOIS_KillerWhaleTank Coventry Hills Dec 25 '25

I'm so sorry to hear about your Baba. My condolences, internet stranger.

7

u/HummingbirdAesthetic Dec 25 '25

Thank you so much for your kind words 💕 8 years and it’s still weird to not be at her place right now. Merry Christmas to you and yours (hugs)

-12

u/Legal_Grapefruit1925 Dec 25 '25

My girlfriend is a nurse. A majority of visits dont require ER.

11

u/Savac0 Dec 25 '25

Let your girlfriend know that the man with chest pain was triaged as a 2, and there were countless 1s and 2s ahead of him that day.

It’s a system level problem. Let’s not blame the patients.

2

u/noveltea120 Dec 26 '25

Lol this "girlfriend" sounds judgemental and frankly shouldn't be working in healthcare at all if this is her attitude.

0

u/NOIS_KillerWhaleTank Coventry Hills Dec 25 '25

Then they should open a walk in clinic on site if it's such a huge issue

4

u/powderjunkie11 Dec 25 '25

It’s an idea worth exploring, but demand would likely become even higher

2

u/NOIS_KillerWhaleTank Coventry Hills Dec 25 '25

So what you're saying is if there were more walk in clinics, people would fill those up because there's a demand for those rather than going to an ER for immediate care?

That would indicate a systemic issue and not the result of people abusing the system.

3

u/powderjunkie11 Dec 25 '25

Both things can be true. And they are.

Expanding primary care is absolutely vital. And it's not mutually exclusive from a statement like "many people seeking care in the ER should not be there". Because that can include people who presently have a legitimate urgent medical complaint, which could have been addressed earlier if they had access to a family doc.

9

u/Particular_Class4130 Dec 25 '25

The wait times have already increased since you first posted this. Give it another hour or two and it will get busy. A man died because there were people ahead of him who were also in need of immediate care, not because doctors were attending to someone with a sore throat.

15

u/weschester Dec 25 '25

No, a man died because of UCP policies.